System and method for enabling transaction of femto cell information from a host terminal device to a guest terminal device

ABSTRACT

A method for managing access to a macro mobile operator core network ( 250 ) by a guest terminal device ( 225 ) through a femto cell ( 210 ), and more particularly through a femto cell ( 210 ) connected to the Internet ( 240 ). When a guest terminal seeks guest access to network services at a site for example while a guest at a person&#39;s home, or a customer in a shop, or a traveler in a transportation station, access may be granted by information exchange between the proprietor of the site and the macro mobile operator core network ( 250 ). Access may be granted via the proprietor via a terminal device ( 220 ) connected wirelessly to the core network, or by any device connected to the Internet. Once access is granted, the guest terminal device ( 225 ) receives sufficient information to initiate communication with femto cells ( 210 ) in the proximity of the site, and thereby begin using Internet-based communication.

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/248,254 filed Oct. 9, 2008, which claimed priority to ProvisionalApplication No. 60/979,800 filed Oct. 12, 2007, and assigned to theassignee hereof and hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present application relates generally to wireless communications,and more specifically to methods and systems for the transaction ofinformation related to access point base stations to guest terminals.

2. Background

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication (e.g., voice, data, multimedia services, etc.) tomultiple users. As the demand for high-rate and multimedia data servicesrapidly grows, there lies a challenge to implement efficient and robustcommunication systems with enhanced performance.

In recent years, users have started to replace fixed line communicationswith mobile communications and have increasingly demanded greater voicequality, reliable service, and lower prices.

In addition to mobile phone networks currently in place, a new class ofsmall base stations has emerged that may be installed in a user's homeand provide indoor wireless coverage to mobile units using existingbroadband Internet connections. Such personal miniature base stationsare generally known as access point base stations or, alternatively,Home Node B (HNB) or, alternatively, femto cells. Typically, suchminiature base stations (femto cells) are connected to the Internet andthe mobile operator's network via a router or modem.

However, one of the critical problems with femto cells is “discovery”,namely how a mobile device gains awareness of, and authorization accessto a femto cell. Frequent scanning across frequencies may be used, butthat technique may drain the battery in the device. Depending on thefemto system solution used, the mobile unit may not know if it isallowed to use a particular femto cell or not, at least not until themobile unit attempts to register with the femto cell. This results infurther battery drainage.

It is these and other limitations of such prior attempts that motivatethe present invention disclosed herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system includingfemto cells, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2. illustrates an exemplary communication system to enabledeployment of femto cells within a network environment, according to oneembodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of a system for enabling transactionof femto cell information from a host terminal device to a guestterminal device, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 4. illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary system forestablishing an access database entry, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 5. illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary system authorizingfemto cell network access to a guest terminal device, according to oneembodiment;

FIG. 6. illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary communication systemto establish and terminate network access to a guest terminal device,according to one embodiment;

FIG. 7A. illustrates an exemplary communication protocol to enabledeployment of access point base stations within a network environment,according to one embodiment;

FIG. 7B illustrates a simplified block diagram of several sample aspectsof communication components;

FIGS. 8, 9, and 10 are simplified block diagrams of several sampleaspects of apparatuses configured to facilitate transaction of femtocell information as taught in embodiments herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as“exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other embodiments. The techniques described herein maybe used for various wireless communication networks such as CodeDivision Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, Time Division Multiple Access(TDMA) networks, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) networks,Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA)networks, etc. The terms “networks” and “systems” are often usedinterchangeably. A CDMA network may implement a radio technology such asUniversal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includesWideband-CDMA (W-CDMA) and Low Chip Rate (LCR). cdma2000 covers IS-2000,IS-95 and IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement a radiotechnology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). AnOFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UTRA(E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM®, etc. UTRA,E-UTRA, and GSM are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System(UMTS). Long Term Evolution (LTE) is an upcoming release of UMTS thatuses E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS and LTE are described in documentsfrom an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project” (3GPP).cdma2000 is described in documents from an organization named “3rdGeneration Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). These various radiotechnologies and standards are known in the art.

In the description herein, a node that provides coverage over arelatively large area may be referred to as a macro node while a nodethat provides coverage over a relatively small area (e.g., a residence)may be referred to as a femto node. It should be appreciated that theteachings herein may be applicable to nodes associated with other typesof coverage areas. For example, a pico node may provide coverage over anarea that is smaller than a macro area and larger than a femto area(e.g., coverage within a commercial building). In various applications,other terminology may be used to reference a macro node, a femto node,or other access point-type nodes. For example, a macro node may beconfigured or referred to as an access node, base station, access point,eNodeB, macro cell, and so on. Also, a femto node may be configured orreferred to as a Home NodeB, Home eNodeB, access point base station,femto cell, and so on. In some implementations, a node may be associatedwith (e.g., divided into) one or more cells or sectors. A cell or sectorassociated with a macro node, a femto node, or a pico node may bereferred to as a macro cell, a femto cell, or a pico cell, respectively.A simplified example of how femto nodes may be deployed in a networkwill now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system 100configured to support a number of users, in which various disclosedembodiments and aspects may be implemented. As shown in FIG. 1, by wayof example, system 100 provides communication for multiple cells 102such as, for example, macro cells 102 a-102 g, with each cell beingserviced by a corresponding access point (AP) or points 104, such as,for example, APs 104 a-104 g. Each macro cell may be further dividedinto one or more sectors (not shown). As further shown in FIG. 1,various access terminal (AT) devices 106, including ATs 106 a-1061, alsoknown interchangeably as user equipment (UE) or as mobile stations (MS),or as terminal devices, may be dispersed at various locations throughoutthe system. Each AT 106 may communicate with one or more APs 104 on aforward link (FL) and/or a reverse link (RL) at a given moment,depending upon whether the AT is active and whether it is in softhandoff, for example. The wireless communication system 100 may provideservice over a large geographic region. For example, macro cells 102a-102 g may cover only a few blocks within a neighborhood or severalsquare miles in a rural environment.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary communication system to enabledeployment of femto nodes, also known as femto cells (access point basestations) within a network environment. As shown in FIG. 2, the system200 includes multiple femto nodes, or, in the alternative, femto cells,access point base stations, Home Node B (HNB) units such as, forexample, HNB 210, each being installed in a corresponding relativelysmall coverage network environment, such as, for example, in one or moresites 230, and such as, for example, being configured to serveassociated user equipment 220, as well as alien user equipment 225. EachHNB 210 may be coupled to and further configured to communicate via awide area network, such as the Internet 240, and to any node on theInternet, including a macro mobile operator core network 250 (alsoreferred to as a “core network”). In exemplary configurations, a sitemight include DSL routers and/or cable modems 260 ₁, 260 ₂, through 260_(N). As shown, there are at least two communication paths between aterminal device 220 and the macro mobile operator core network 250,namely a path including macro cell access 270, and a path including theInternet 240.

Although embodiments described herein use 3GPP terminology, it is to beunderstood that the embodiments may be applied not only to 3GPP (Rel99,Rel5, Rel6, Rel7, etc.) technology, but also to 3GPP2 (1xRTT, 1xEV-DORel0, RevA, RevB, etc.) technology, as well as to other known andrelated technologies. In such embodiments described herein, theproprietor of the HNB 210 might subscribe to mobile services such as,for example, 3G mobile services, offered through the macro mobileoperator core network 250, and the UE 220 might be capable of operatingboth in a macro cellular environment and in an HNB-based small coveragenetwork environment. Thus, the HNB 210 might be adapted for backwardcompatibility with any existing UE 220.

As is apparent from the foregoing, in addition to network access beingserved directly by the macro mobile operator core network 250, the UE220 might be served network access indirectly by one or more HNBs. Insuch a case, end-to-end communication between the UE 220 and the macromobile operator core network 250 may be performed through an HNB 210 andthrough the Internet 240. One or more UEs might be granted access by oneor more pre-authorized HNBs 210, namely the HNBs 210 that are licensedor under a subscription for use within proximity of the correspondingsite 230.

One of the use models for HNBs (henceforth “femto cells”) includes“restricted association”. That is, while one or more femto cells arepre-associated and authorized to grant network access to a compatible UE(henceforth “terminal” or “terminal device”) that is licensed to orunder subscription by the proprietor of the site where it is installed(e.g. in a person's home), those same femto cells would disallow networkaccess to any other (e.g. un-associated or alien) cellular networksubscriber(s). This restricted association or disallowed network accessof course covers alien terminal devices, which, but for the features ofthe restricted association model, might be able to gain network accessby a given femto cell. That is, even in the presence of an alienterminal device that is compatible with the femto cell technology, andbeing subscribed on the cellular network licensed for the spectrum usedby the femto cell, and being in the physical vicinity (within coverage)of the femto cell, the alien terminal device is disallowed access toproximal femto cells unless and until the alien terminal is identifiedand granted access.

One feature of the restricted association model is to explicitly allow aguest terminal to communicate with the femto cell (or, more generally,communicate with any among a plurality of femto cells), and gainauthorized network access to the Internet 240 and thereby to the macromobile operator core network 250 via connection 245. In this context,the guest terminal might be any user equipment other than theaforementioned pre-associated terminal devices. Such explicit allowance(henceforth “guest status”) might be granted either on atime-period-limited basis, or on a time-wise open-ended basis.

In one embodiment, a terminal device might be pre-associated withspecific femto cell use. In such embodiments, the terminal device maystore information associating that terminal device to specific femtocell(s) that the terminal device is allowed to use. This information canbe represented and stored in a number of forms and with various fieldsand contents, depending upon the particular solution. Table 1 depictsone possibility for such representation in a relational database form.The data populated in Table 1 corresponds to a possible exemplary femtocell to terminal device association as shown in FIG. 1.

TABLE 1 Row Terminal Device ID Femto Cell ID 1 106e 104e 2 106k 104e 3106g 104g 4 106l 104g

Table 1 thus represents associations between specific terminal devicesand one or more femto cells. In the example shown, each of four terminaldevices (106 e, 106 k, 106 g, and 106 l) are given an association withone or more femto cells. Of course the associations between a terminaldevice and femto cells are not limited to just two each as shown in thetable rows 1-2 and rows 3-4, and indeed any terminal device might have arow/record that creates an association with additional femto cells.Moreover, additional relations might be available that define a relationbetween a particular core network subscriber and zero or more femtocells licensed to that subscriber. In an alternate embodiment, severalrelations might be joined in order to create, for example, a relationbetween a particular subscriber and zero or more terminal devices(“subscriber terminal device”).

Now, continuing the discussion of the restricted association use model,the macro mobile operator core network 250 might store a databasesimilar to Table 1, indicating which terminal devices are authorized foraccess to which femto cells. In one embodiment, a guest terminal devicemight be entered into this database, possibly including additional gueststatus authorization, and possibly including information describing aperiod of validity of a guest's status. Thus, if and when the validguest status period expires, the guest status information might bemarked as invalid or inactive, or removed from the particular networkdatabase. Therefore, a subsequent attempt by the guest terminal deviceto access the network via the femto cell might be rejected, and theguest terminal device might be directed to use an alternate networkaccess method. Alternatively, the guest terminal device might be allowedto continue to use the femto cell, but with access restrictions such aslimited bandwidth, or with access constraints such as tariffs as may beapplied by the operator of the macro mobile operator core network 250.

Additional embodiments described in detail below enable transaction ofthe information which allows a guest terminal device to find a licensedfemto cell when the guest terminal device is proximal to the installedsite. In one embodiment, a femto cell database entry (“FDE”) is used.When an FDE is stored in a home terminal device, the FDE is designatedas a “Home FDE”, and when stored in a guest terminal device, it isdesignated as a “Guest FDE”, and when an FDE is stored in a corenetwork, the FDE is designated as a “Core FDE”, even though theinformation in each or any combination of the aforementioned FDEs mightbe identical. Of course a terminal device may store the Home FDE as justdescribed, and may also contain other FDEs or even other similarlystructured information about other femto cells it is allowed to access.For example, in addition to a Home FDE, the user's network terminaldevice might contain an FDE associating it with femto cells installed atthe user's place of business.

Somewhat more formally, the foregoing method is depicted by flow diagramfor a system 300, as shown in FIG. 3. Specifically, a method forenabling the transaction of femto cell information from a host terminaldevice to a guest terminal device might include operations includingstoring information regarding a femto cell (see operation 310),transferring said information regarding said femto cell to a guestterminal device (operation 315), authorizing femto cell network accessto a guest terminal device (operation 320), and establishing networkaccess to a guest terminal device (operation 330). As shown, theoperation of authorizing femto cell network access and the operation ofestablishing femto cell network access are distinct and separateoperations, and merely authorizing network access need not requireestablishing network access. Of course, authorizing femto cell networkaccess to a guest terminal device may not be a permanent authorization,accordingly the system 300 includes an operation for terminating networkaccess to a guest terminal device (340).

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram for a system 400 for establishing an accessdatabase entry, in accordance with one embodiment. As an option, thepresent system 400 may be implemented in the context of the architectureand functionality of FIG. 1 through FIG. 3. Of course, however, thesystem 400 or any operation therein may be carried out in any desiredenvironment.

Inasmuch as the system 300 and the system 400 are flexible so as tosupport a wide variety of features, various techniques to initiate atransaction from a host terminal device for establishing an accessdatabase entry are also flexible. In fact, the transaction might beinitiated using a mobile terminal device that is licensed (or coveredunder subscription) to a proprietor of a site where femto cells areinstalled. Or it might be initiated by a request for access from anunlicensed device, either mobile or not mobile, as long as the properprotocol is obeyed (see operation 410). This unlicensed device might bea desktop or laptop or any other computing device capable of executingbrowser code or browser-like code. In some embodiments, it is evenpossible that the device used in initiating the transaction might be amobile terminal device licensed to someone other than the proprietor ofthe subject site.

In any of these cases, the identity of the subscriber or licensee of thefemto cells involved in the transaction may be retrieved in the courseof the transaction protocol, and subsequently used for allocation ofcharges and other purposes. In many examples discussed, it is convenientto consider the “home user” as referring to the same person (or entity)as the person (or entity) that is the proprietor of the site where thesubject femto cells are installed. However, it is understood that theelection of when to initiate a transaction might be “ad hoc” (e.g.shortly after the guest indicates a need for femto cell access), or thetransaction could be initiated a priori, and even in a batch. It is evenpossible that a transacting user could be any person or entity able toprovide proper credentials (see operation 420). In one embodiment, thetransacting user might be a core network employee or agent (human agentor computing agent) authorized to “sign up” a group of guests. Suchmight be the case when, for example, a conference organizer elects topreauthorize femto cell access within the conference facility, but onlyto specific attendees who have elected (or paid) for such a service(henceforth “preauthorized guest” or “preauthorized guests”).

Continuing, the transacting user can invoke an application capable ofexecuting in the user's terminal device (for example, this applicationmay be a BREW application by Qualcomm Incorporated of San Diego,Calif.). Or, the transacting user can invoke an application or appletfrom the aforementioned unlicensed device. In one embodiment, this typeof transaction is a billable event and the macro mobile operator corenetwork 250 operator might extract revenue merely for performing thetransaction, even independent of any subsequent network usage. Inexemplary embodiments, the aforementioned application might present(e.g. through a graphical user interface) a series of options, includingbut not limited to (a) a maximum duration of period of guest accessvalidity; (b) a duration of period of guest access validity for whichaccess is tariff-free; (c) explicit restrictions (e.g. access to anInternet address, or an Internet application is restricted); or (d)explicit allowances, for example a call to 9-1-1 might be permitted atany time (see operation 430). Of course such an application or appletmight present default configurations or groupings of configurations ormodes, possibly including a restricted mode, a promiscuous mode, atariff-free mode, etc., and might involve many transactions subordinateto operation 430. Conversely any explicit transaction by the applet tothe core network might be merely an option. Those skilled in the artwill immediately recognize that the execution of an application orapplet might involve any number of network accesses, and a protocol forcommunication between a client (e.g. a terminal device) and a server(e.g. a core network) and might include any number of client-servertransactions.

Now, with the credentials of a valid subscriber being validated, thetransacting user might identify a guest user, for example by providingthe phone number of the guest user's terminal device. In one embodiment,the information requested and provided by the transacting user might belimited to merely the phone number of the guest user's terminal device.Of course other means of identification of the guest user's terminaldevice are readily available, and any such identification technique(s)might be used in order to uniquely address the guest user's terminaldevice on any available network.

The core network, thus having (a) a properly credentialed subscriber,(b) a database including the relationship between a subscriber and zeroor more femto cells, and (c) the ability to address the guest user'sterminal device, might then engage the guest user, through the guestuser's terminal device via one or more confirmation exchanges, possiblyincluding guest confirmations that optionally contain the amount of timefor guest activation validity, any un-tariffed time limitations,explicit restrictions, and explicit allowances (see operation 440).

Upon obtaining the guest user's consent, the macro mobile operator corenetwork 250 retrieves the Home FDE corresponding to the previouslycredentialed proprietor. Such retrieval might be performed autonomouslyby the macro mobile operator core network 250 via a request of the hometerminal for its Home FDE or, in the case the authorizing transactionhaving been performed using an unlicensed terminal (browser device),such retrieval might be performed autonomously by the macro mobileoperator core network 250 through a database access initiated within themacro mobile operator core network 250 (operation 450). In either case,the core network verifies the contents of the retrieved FDE (operation460) and forwards it, using a path including macro cell access 270 tothe guest terminal device, where the guest terminal device formulates itas a Guest FDE and stores it (operation 470).

Upon confirmation of a successful download as reported by the guestterminal device (operation 480), the macro mobile operator core network250 establishes an access database entry indicating a guest subscriptionhaving the capabilities, limitations, and explicit allow/denycharacteristics as aforementioned.

Now, returning to FIG. 3, the operation 310 includes establishment of atleast one access database entry, possibly including an FDE, and possiblyincluding some or all allow/deny characteristics. In some embodiments,the access record might be stored in memory, or it might be stored intoor onto some non-volatile device. However, within the scope of operation310, even though an access entry has been established, guest terminalaccess to a subject femto cell has not yet occurred. Indeed, as recentlyas the performance of operation 480, the guest terminal device remainsconnected to the macro mobile operator core network 250 via a networkpath including a macro cell access 270. Various embodiments provide forthe guest terminal to terminate the aforementioned macro cell connectionand begin accessing the macro mobile operator core network 250 via anetwork path including a femto cell and the Internet 240 (see operations320 and 330, and operation 620).

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram for a system 500 for authorizing femto cellnetwork access to a guest terminal device, in accordance with oneembodiment. As an option, the present system 500 may be implemented inthe context of the architecture and functionality of FIG. 1 through FIG.4. Of course, however, the system 500 or any operation therein may becarried out in any desired environment.

As per the discussion of operation 470, the guest terminal device hasreceived a copy of a Home FDE as a result of the execution of one ormore of operations 410 through 470. At this point, the guest terminaldevice might interpret the contents of the just received FDE. In someembodiments, the guest terminal device might interpret the FDE datafields (see operation 510) to the extent that a logical map of one ormore femto cells might be constructed. Such a map might containinformation on a per-femto-cell basis; Table 2 shows just one of manymapping possibilities.

TABLE 2 Femto User-specified Cell ID Status Chip Location 104e Up (28days) 0X1234ABCD Kitchen 104g Up (3 days) 0XABCD0123 Garage

The values populated into the cells of Table 2 correspond to the femtocells found in FIG. 1. Of course this is strictly an example and manyother mappings are possible and envisioned. In fact a local femto cellconstellation database containing information related to the location ofthe femto cells in the constellation might be constructed by the guestterminal, an example of which is shown in Table 3.

TABLE 3 Pilot Ec/Io Mean Pilot Pilot Phase Femto Macro BS ThresholdPhase Deviation SID/NID ID Set Vector Vector Vector A A₁ C(A₁) D(A₁)P(A₁) Q(A₁) A A₂ C(A₂) D(A₂) P(A₂) Q(A₂) A A₃ C(A₃) D(A₃) P(A₃) Q(A₃)

In the case of such a constellation database being constructed, theguest terminal device might request various constellation data from themacro mobile operator core network 250, and the guest terminal devicemight then interpret and store such data for various uses. At any timeonce an FDE is stored in the guest terminal, the guest terminal may thenpossess the necessary information to search for and initiatecommunication with at least one femto cell in the proximal femto cellnetwork (see operation 520). In exemplary embodiments, a guest terminalrecognizes the condition of being in the vicinity of one or moreparticular femto cells as described by any FDE, and begins an activesearch for such femto cells. Of course, any value or combination ofvalues from among an SID/NID, a Macro BS Set, a Pilot Ec/Io ThresholdVector, a Mean Pilot Phase Vector, and/or a Pilot Phase Deviation Vectormay aid the guest terminal in detecting the condition of being in thevicinity one or more femto cells, and may aid the guest terminal infinding a subject femto cell. Once communication with one or moresubject femto cells is acquired, additional information in the FDE(including parameters such as BASE_ID, LAT, LON, etc) may positivelyidentify the subject femto cell, at which point authentication of theguest device authentication of the guest device may be confirmed, andauthorization to use the femto and authorization to use the femto may begranted.

Still in the context of the system 500 for authorizing femto cellnetwork access to a guest terminal device, the macro mobile operatorcore network 250 might initiate recordkeeping for the guest terminaldevice such that LUDs, time-based usage, and data rate based usage, etcmight be measured (operation 540). Now, with identification andauthentication completed and recordkeeping processes initiated, themacro mobile operator core network 250 authorizes the guest terminal andany femto cell to allow access by the guest terminal device (operation550). The guest terminal device is now authorized for network access tothe macro mobile operator core network 250 through the network pathsegments 235 and 245 including at least one femto cell, and at least onepath (not shown) through the Internet 240. The guest terminal device cannow attempt communication with a selected femto cell. The guest terminalmay use any network paths and core network facilities so authorized,including network access to the macro mobile operator core network 250through the network path including at least one femto cell, and at leastone path through the Internet 240.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram for a system 600 for managing femto cellnetwork access to a guest terminal device, in accordance with oneembodiment. As an option, the present system 600 may be implemented inthe context of the architecture and functionality of FIG. 1 through FIG.5. Of course, however, the system 600 or any operation therein may becarried out in any desired environment.

Of course, as aforementioned, network access to the macro mobileoperator core network 250 might be time-limited. Accordingly,embodiments of the present invention include use of techniques to limitaccess based on time, possibly including use of a timestamp. As shown inFIG. 6 one technique for time-based management might employ multipleprocesses running concurrently and asynchronously. Specifically, theoperation for establishing network access to a guest terminal devicemight include spawning concurrently running processes P1 and P2(operations 610 and 660, respectively).

In the general case of authorized network access to the macro mobileoperator core network 250, the guest terminal device is able to use thenetwork for any purposes supported under the guest's subscriptionagreement, possibly including cell-to-cell calls, cell-to-landlinecalls, SMS messaging, Internet accesses such as browsing or chat,roaming between any number of authorized femto cells, etc., at least forthe period of validity. Such general access is supported in the contextof embodiments of the present invention so long as the period ofvalidity has not expired (see operation 620 and decision 630). Howeverupon expiration of the period of validity, general network access willbe terminated and various guest-related resources released (operations635, 685, 640 and 690).

In parallel with authorized network access, a timer initialize(operation 665) and time monitoring steps (operations 670, 675 anddecision 680) enforces that network access through the subject femtocells is terminated at the expiration of the period of validity. Ofcourse, termination of guest status authorizing network access throughthe subject femto cells does not necessarily further terminate othernetwork access and, in general, upon termination of guest status, theguest terminal device may be redirected to alternate network accessmechanisms. Upon expiration of validity, the macro mobile operator corenetwork 250 disables the guest subscription (operation 695). Similarly,the guest terminal device may delete the corresponding FDE entry fromits database.

FIG. 7A illustrates a protocol 701 for managing femto cell networkaccess to a guest terminal device, in accordance with one embodiment. Asan option, the protocol 701 may be implemented in the context of thearchitecture and functionality of FIG. 1 through FIG. 6. Of course,however, the protocol 701 or any operation therein may be carried out inany desired environment.

As shown in FIG. 7A, at transaction step 702, the femto cell transmits arequest to the transacting terminal that a guest terminal needs access.The protocol transactions may be understood by interpreting from top tobottom by reading each next (successively lower) transaction, or it canbe understood from the perspective of a particular contributor (e.g. the“Transacting Terminal”). For example, the Transacting Terminal operatestransaction steps including (a) sending a request to authorize a guestterminal 410; and (b) sending guest terminal identity; optionally (c)sending guest access information. As another example, from theperspective of the femto cell (i.e. the “Femto Cell”), transaction stepscan be described as including (a) receiving a guest request 520; (b)receiving guest credentials; (c) establishing a femto-based guestsession; and (d) de-authorize a femto-based guest session. Similarly,from the perspective of the guest terminal device (i.e. the “GuestTerminal”), transaction steps can be described as including (a)receiving an access confirmation request 440; (b) transacting an accessconfirmation request confirmation; and (c) requesting a femto-basedguest session.

It should be appreciated that the teachings herein may be implemented invarious types of communication devices. In some aspects, the teachingsherein may be implemented in wireless devices that may be deployed inmultiple access communication system that may simultaneously supportcommunication for multiple wireless access terminals. Here, eachterminal may communicate with one or more access points viatransmissions on the forward and reverse links. The forward link (ordownlink) refers to the communication link from the access points to theterminals, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communicationlink from the terminals to the access points. This communication linkmay be established via a single-in-single-out system, amultiple-in-multiple-out (“MIMO”) system, or some other type of system.

A MIMO system employs multiple (N_(T)) transmit antennas and multiple(N_(R)) receive antennas for data transmission. A MIMO channel formed bythe N_(T) transmit and N_(R) receive antennas may be decomposed intoN_(S) independent channels, which are also referred to as spatialchannels, where N_(S)<min{N_(T), N_(R)}. Each of the N_(S) independentchannels corresponds to a dimension. The MIMO system may provideimproved performance (e.g., higher throughput and/or greaterreliability) if the additional dimensionalities created by the multipletransmit and receive antennas are utilized.

A MIMO system may support time division duplex (“TDD”) and frequencydivision duplex (“FDD”). In a TDD system, the forward and reverse linktransmissions are on the same frequency region so that the reciprocityprinciple allows the estimation of the forward link channel from thereverse link channel. This enables the access point to extract transmitbeam-forming gain on the forward link when multiple antennas areavailable at the access point.

The teachings herein may be incorporated into a node (e.g., a device)employing various components for communicating with at least one othernode. FIG. 7B depicts several sample components that may be employed tofacilitate communication between nodes. Specifically, FIG. 7Billustrates a wireless device 710 (e.g., an access point) and a wirelessdevice 750 (e.g., an access terminal) of a MIMO system 700. At thedevice 710, traffic data for a number of data streams is provided from adata source 712 to a transmit (“TX”) data processor 714.

In some aspects, each data stream is transmitted over a respectivetransmit antenna. The TX data processor 714 formats, codes, andinterleaves the traffic data for each data stream based on a particularcoding scheme selected for that data stream to provide coded data.

The coded data for each data stream may be multiplexed with pilot datausing OFDM techniques. The pilot data is typically a known data patternthat is processed in a known manner and may be used at the receiversystem to estimate the channel response. The multiplexed pilot and codeddata for each data stream is then modulated (i.e., symbol mapped) basedon a particular modulation scheme (e.g., BPSK, QSPK, M-PSK, or M-QAM)selected for that data stream to provide modulation symbols. The datarate, coding, and modulation for each data stream may be determined byinstructions performed by a processor 730. A data memory 732 may storeprogram code, data, and other information used by the processor 730 orother components of the device 710.

The modulation symbols for all data streams are then provided to a TXMIMO processor 720, which may further process the modulation symbols(e.g., for OFDM). The TX MIMO processor 720 then provides N_(T)modulation symbol streams to N_(T) transceivers (“XCVR”) 722A through722T. In some aspects, the TX MIMO processor 720 applies beam-formingweights to the symbols of the data streams and to the antenna from whichthe symbol is being transmitted.

Each transceiver 722 receives and processes a respective symbol streamto provide one or more analog signals, and further conditions (e.g.,amplifies, filters, and upconverts) the analog signals to provide amodulated signal suitable for transmission over the MIMO channel. N_(T)modulated signals from transceivers 722A through 722T are thentransmitted from N_(T) antennas 724A through 724T, respectively.

At the device 750, the transmitted modulated signals are received byN_(R) antennas 752A through 752R and the received signal from eachantenna 752 is provided to a respective transceiver (“XCVR”) 754Athrough 754R. Each transceiver 754 conditions (e.g., filters, amplifies,and downconverts) a respective received signal, digitizes theconditioned signal to provide samples, and further processes the samplesto provide a corresponding “received” symbol stream.

A receive (“RX”) data processor 760 then receives and processes theN_(R) received symbol streams from N_(R) transceivers 754 based on aparticular receiver processing technique to provide N_(T) “detected”symbol streams. The RX data processor 760 then demodulates,deinterleaves, and decodes each detected symbol stream to recover thetraffic data for the data stream. The processing by the RX dataprocessor 760 is complementary to that performed by the TX MIMOprocessor 720 and the TX data processor 714 at the device 710.

A processor 770 periodically determines which pre-coding matrix to use(discussed below). The processor 770 formulates a reverse link messagecomprising a matrix index portion and a rank value portion. A datamemory 772 may store program code, data, and other information used bythe processor 770 or other components of the device 750.

The reverse link message may comprise various types of informationregarding the communication link and/or the received data stream. Thereverse link message is then processed by a TX data processor 738, whichalso receives traffic data for a number of data streams from a datasource 736, modulated by a modulator 780, conditioned by thetransceivers 754A through 754R, and transmitted back to the device 710.

At the device 710, the modulated signals from the device 750 arereceived by the antennas 724, conditioned by the transceivers 722,demodulated by a demodulator (“DEMOD”) 740, and processed by a RX dataprocessor 742 to extract the reverse link message transmitted by thedevice 750. The processor 730 then determines which pre-coding matrix touse for determining the beam-forming weights then processes theextracted message.

The teachings herein may be incorporated into various types ofcommunication systems and/or system components. In some aspects, theteachings herein may be employed in a multiple-access system capable ofsupporting communication with multiple users by sharing the availablesystem resources (e.g., by specifying one or more of bandwidth, transmitpower, coding, interleaving, and so on). For example, the teachingsherein may be applied to any one or combinations of the followingtechnologies: Code Division Multiple Access (“CDMA”) systems,Multiple-Carrier CDMA (“MCCDMA”), Wideband CDMA (“W-CDMA”), High-SpeedPacket Access (“HSPA,” “HSPA+”) systems, Time Division Multiple Access(“TDMA”) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (“FDMA”) systems,Single-Carrier FDMA (“SC-FDMA”) systems, Orthogonal Frequency DivisionMultiple Access (“OFDMA”) systems, or other multiple access techniques.A wireless communication system employing the teachings herein may bedesigned to implement one or more standards, such as IS-95, cdma2000,IS-856, W-CDMA, TDSCDMA, and other standards. A CDMA network mayimplement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access(“UTRA)”, cdma2000, or some other technology. UTRA includes W-CDMA andLow Chip Rate (“LCR”). The cdma2000 technology covers IS-2000, IS-95 andIS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement a radio technology suchas Global System for Mobile Communications (“GSM”). An OFDMA network mayimplement a radio technology such as Evolved UTRA (“E-UTRA”), IEEE802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM®, etc. UTRA, E-UTRA, andGSM are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (“UMTS”). Theteachings herein may be implemented in a 3GPP Long Term Evolution(“LTE”) system, an Ultra-Mobile Broadband (“UMB”) system, and othertypes of systems. LTE is a release of UMTS that uses E-UTRA. Althoughcertain aspects of the disclosure may be described using 3GPPterminology, it is to be understood that the teachings herein may beapplied to 3GPP (Rel99, Rel5, Rel6, Rel7) technology, as well as 3GPP2(1xRTT, 1xEV-DO Rel0, RevA, RevB) technology and other technologies.

The teachings herein may be incorporated into (e.g., implemented withinor performed by) a variety of apparatuses (e.g., nodes). In someaspects, a node (e.g., a wireless node) implemented in accordance withthe teachings herein may comprise an access point or an access terminal.

For example, an access terminal may comprise, be implemented as, orknown as user equipment, a subscriber station, a subscriber unit, amobile station, a mobile, a mobile node, a remote station, a remoteterminal, a user terminal, a user agent, a user device, or some otherterminology. In some implementations an access terminal may comprise acellular telephone, a cordless telephone, a session initiation protocol(“SIP”) phone, a wireless local loop (“WLL”) station, a personal digitalassistant (“PDA”), a handheld device having wireless connectioncapability, or some other suitable processing device connected to awireless modem. Accordingly, one or more aspects taught herein may beincorporated into a phone (e.g., a cellular phone or smart phone), acomputer (e.g., a laptop), a portable communication device, a portablecomputing device (e.g., a personal data assistant), an entertainmentdevice (e.g., a music device, a video device, or a satellite radio), aglobal positioning system device, or any other suitable device that isconfigured to communicate via a wireless medium.

An access point may comprise, be implemented as, or known as a NodeB, aneNodeB, a radio network controller (“RNC”), a base station (“BS”), aradio base station (“RBS”), a base station controller (“BSC”), a basetransceiver station (“BTS”), a transceiver function (“TF”), a radiotransceiver, a radio router, a basic service set (“BSS”), an extendedservice set (“ESS”), or some other similar terminology.

In some aspects a node (e.g., an access point) may comprise an accessnode for a communication system. Such an access node may provide, forexample, connectivity for or to a network (e.g., a wide area networksuch as the Internet or a cellular network) via a wired or wirelesscommunication link to the network. Accordingly, an access node mayenable another node (e.g., an access terminal) to access a network orsome other functionality. In addition, it should be appreciated that oneor both of the nodes may be portable or, in some cases, relativelynon-portable.

Also, it should be appreciated that a wireless node may be capable oftransmitting and/or receiving information in a non-wireless manner(e.g., via a wired connection). Thus, a receiver and a transmitter asdiscussed herein may include appropriate communication interfacecomponents (e.g., electrical or optical interface components) tocommunicate via a non-wireless medium.

A wireless node may communicate via one or more wireless communicationlinks that are based on or otherwise support any suitable wirelesscommunication technology. For example, in some aspects a wireless nodemay associate with a network. In some aspects the network may comprise alocal area network or a wide area network. A wireless device may supportor otherwise use one or more of a variety of wireless communicationtechnologies, protocols, or standards such as those discussed herein(e.g., CDMA, TDMA, OFDM, OFDMA, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, and so on). Similarly, awireless node may support or otherwise use one or more of a variety ofcorresponding modulation or multiplexing schemes. A wireless node maythus include appropriate components (e.g., air interfaces) to establishand communicate via one or more wireless communication links using theabove or other wireless communication technologies. For example, awireless node may comprise a wireless transceiver with associatedtransmitter and receiver components that may include various components(e.g., signal generators and signal processors) that facilitatecommunication over a wireless medium.

FIG. 8 depicts an example block diagram of a system 800 in accordancewith additional aspects described herein. System 800 provides anapparatus that can facilitate managing guest terminal access through afemto cell. Specifically, system 800 can include a plurality of modulesor means, each connected to a communication link 805, and cancommunicate with other modules or means over communication link 805. Themodules of the apparatus can individually or in combination perform thesteps of the flow 300.

FIG. 9 depicts an example block diagram of a system 900 in accordancewith additional aspects described herein. System 900 provides anapparatus that can facilitate transferring femto cell information to aguest terminal. Specifically, system 900 can include a plurality ofmodules or means, each connected to a communication link 905, and cancommunicate with other modules or means over communication link 905. Themodules of the apparatus can individually or in combination perform thesteps of the flow 400. For example, the apparatus of system 900 caninitiate any number of transactions for establishing a femto cell accessdatabase entry 910, and can perform any number of transactions toconfigure a guest terminal device, including confirming successfulreceipt of communications by a guest terminal device 980.

FIG. 10 depicts an example block diagram of a system 1000 in accordancewith additional aspects described herein. System 1000 provides anapparatus that can facilitate transferring femto cell information to aguest terminal. Specifically, system 1000 can include a plurality ofmodules or means, each connected to a communication link 1005, and cancommunicate with other modules or means over communication link 1005.The modules of the apparatus can, individually or in combination performthe steps of the flow 500. For example, the apparatus of system 1000 canmanage guest terminal information retrieval 1010, search for femto cells1020, as well as initiate usage and tariff processes 1030.

While the specification describes particular examples of the presentinvention, those of ordinary skill can devise variations of the presentinvention without departing from the inventive concept. For example, theteachings herein refer to a core network that may be comprised of anycombination of circuit-switched network elements and packet-switcheddomain network elements.

Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signalsmay be represented using any of a variety of different technologies andtechniques. For example data, instructions, commands, information,signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout theabove description may be represented by voltages, currents,electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields orparticles, or any combination thereof.

Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that the variousillustrative systems, logical blocks, modules, circuits, methods andalgorithms described in connection with the examples disclosed hereinmay be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, orcombinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability ofhardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules,circuits, methods and algorithms have been described above generally interms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implementedas hardware or software depends upon the particular application anddesign constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans mayimplement the described functionality in varying ways for eachparticular application, but such implementation decisions should not beinterpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the presentinvention.

The various illustrative systems, logical blocks, modules, and circuitsdescribed in connection with the examples disclosed herein may beimplemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digitalsignal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmablelogic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functionsdescribed herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor,but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The methods or algorithms described in connection with the examplesdisclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a softwaremodule executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. Asoftware module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory,EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, aCD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. A storagemedium may be coupled to the processor such that the processor can readinformation from, and write information to, the storage medium. In thealternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. Theprocessor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on ortransmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computerstorage media and communication media including any medium thatfacilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Astorage media may be any available media that can be accessed by acomputer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readablemedia can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical diskstorage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or anyother medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code inthe form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed bya computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readablemedium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website,server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologiessuch as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiberoptic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such asinfrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium.Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc,optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray discwhere disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproducedata optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also beincluded within the scope of computer-readable media.

The previous description of the disclosed examples is provided to enableany person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention.Various modifications to these examples will be readily apparent tothose skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein maybe applied to other examples without departing from the spirit or scopeof the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to belimited to the examples shown herein but is to be accorded the widestscope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosedherein.

1. A method for managing core network access of a guest terminal devicethrough at least one femto cell comprising: storing informationregarding at least one femto cell; transferring said informationregarding said femto cell to said guest terminal device; authorizing atleast one femto cell for use by said guest terminal device; andestablishing network access through said femto cell to said guestterminal device using said information.